This is how the tester packet describes Fracas:
Tuberose combines with jasmine, jonquil, gardenia, lily of the valley and iris in a lavish profusion of fragile white flowers.
Hmm. Interesting. I'm a fan of 'fragile white flowers', having been converted by L'Artisan's delightful La Chasse aux Papillons. But Fracas is entirely different. I've mentioned before the 'dirty pants' aroma of Joy by Jean Patou and Fracas certainly has a tinge of the dirty pants, which could be down to the jasmine.
In my ignorance, I had mistakenly confused rose and tuberose as one and the same thing for quite a long time. They are, of course, totally different. There was an excellent article in the Long Island Press which pictured tuberose amongs the midnight garden flowers. The lovely Stefanie, from The Lip Print, also pointed out that Michael Kors (one of my perfume staples) is a tuberose.
So, Fracas has at least two elements that I love, tuberose and the magical 'white flower accord' including jasmine. And, in summary it's a great perfume that I've been scared of for far too long. If I had to criticise it, I would say that it's a bit old fashioned. There's a bit too much going on, which for some people can smell sexy, but to me, just reminds me of old ladies' handbags.
If you're interested in Luca Turin's other five star perfumes, here's the list:
31 Rue Cambon by Chanel
100% Love by S-Perfume
1740 by Histoires de Parfums
L'Air du Desert Marocain by Andy Tauer
Amouage Gold by Amouage (Guy Robert)
Angel by Thierry Mugler
Apres L'Ondee by Guerlain
Aromatics Elixir by Clinique (Bernard Chant)
Azuree by Estee Lauder (Bernard Chant)
Azzaro pour Homme by Azzaro (Gerard Anthony)
Badgley Mischka by Badgley Mischka
Bandit by Robert Piguet (Germaine Cellier)
Beyond Paradise by Estee Lauder (Calice Becker)
Beyond Paradise Men by Estee Lauder (Calice Becker)
Black by Bvlgari (Annick Menardo)
Bois des Iles by Chanel (Ernest Beaux)
Boise de Violette by Serge Lutens (Pierre Bourdon and Chris Sheldrake)
Boucheron by Boucheron (Jean-Pierre Bethouart)
Breath of God by B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful
Calandre by Paco Rabanne
Calyx by Prescriptives (Sophia Grojsman)
Ca Sent Beau by Kenzo (Francoise Caron)
Chamade by Guerlain
Chinatown by Bond No. 9 (Aurelien Guichard)
Cool Water by Davidoff (Pierre Bourdon)
Cristalle by Chanel
Cuir de Russie by Chanel
Derby by Guerlain
Diorella by Dior (Roudnitska)
Dior Homme by Dior (Olivier Polge)
Dune by Dior
Dzing! by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Eau de Guerlain by Guerlain
Eau Savage by Dior (Roudnitska)
Enlevement au Serail by Parfums MDCI
Envy by Gucci (Maurice Roucel)
Le Feu D'Issey by Issey Miyake
Fracas by Robert Piguet (Germaine Cellier)
Givenchy III by Givenchy
Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene
Habit Rouge by Guerlain
L'Heure Bleue by Guerlain
Homage by Amouage
Insense by Givenchy
Insolence eau de parfum by Guerlain (Maurice Roucel)
Invasion Barbare by Parfums MDCI (Stephanie Bakouche)
Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens (Maurice Roucel)
Jicky by Guerlain
Joy parfum by Jean Patou (Henri Almeras)
Knize Ten by Knize (Francois Coty and Vincent Roubert)
Knowing by Estee Lauder
Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent
Lavender by Caldey Island (Hugo Collumbien)
Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempica (Annick Menardo)
Loulou by Cacharel (Jean Guichard)
Missoni by Missoni (Maurice Roucel)
Mitsouko by Guerlain (Jacques Guerlain)
MoslBuddJewChristHinDao by Elternhaus (Marc Buxton)
La Myrrhe by Serge Lutens (Christopher Sheldrake)
Nahema by Guerlain
New York by Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai)
No. 5 eau de toilette by Chanel
No. 5 parfum by Chanel
Odalisque by Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai)
Opium by YSL
Or Black by Pascal Morabito
Ormonde Man by Ormonde Jayne (Linda Pilkington)
Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne (Linda Pilkington)
Osmanthe Yunnan by Hermes (Jean-Claude Ellena)
Oud Cuir D'Arabie by Montale
Patchouli 24 by Le Labo (Annick Menardo)
Pleasures by Estee Lauder
Poison by Dior
Pour Monsieur by Chanel
Pour un Homme by Caron
Private Collection by Estee Lauder
Promesse de l'Aube by Parfums MDCI (Francis Kurkdjian)
Rive Gauche by YSL (Jacques Polge)
Rush by Gucci
Sarrasins by Serge Lutens
Scent by Theo Fennell (Christophe Laudamiel)
Secretions Magnifiques, by Etat Libre d'Orange
S-eX by S-Perfume (Christophe Laudamiel)
Shalimar by Guerlain
Sycomore by Chanel
Le Temps d'une Fete by Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai)
Timbuktu by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Tocade by Rochas (Maurice Roucel)
Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger
Le Troisieme Homme by Caron
Ubar by Amouage
Vanilia by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Vol de Nuit by Guerlain
White Linen by Estee Lauder
Yatagan by Caron
Yohji Homme by Yohji Yamamoto
11 Lovely comments:
Heh. I made the same mistake as you originally thinking that tuberoses were roses!
Must admit I adore Fracas, indeed it was this scent that made me go back to Beyond Love by Kilian and realise just how wonderful tuberose can be.
(I'm still on a bit of a mission with that one, truth be told!)
I think Turin's five star list is a good kick off point but would agree with you that sometimes you have to wonder if he's on crack. (Joke!) (Having said that, I'm was a big Rive Gauche fan, and Knize Ten grew on me in a completely unexpected way).
For me it was the five stars for Angel that boggled me. (My Secretions Magnifiques is on it's way, that's going to be interesting...)
Similarly I really don't get his hatred of Penhaligon's scents, so it works both ways. Still, writing about scent *is* like dancing about architecture ;)
Hi Sarah,
I haven't tried Beyond Love by Kilian. From time to time I go past the Kilian counter in Harvey Nichols and have a quick test. So far nothing has jumped out at me. Beyond Love might change that though - I will be sure to try it.
I know what you mean about Angel. It made me realise that LT doesn't necessarily give five stars for scent he likes. In many cases, the five stars seem to be an award for ground-breaking work or long-term best sellers.
Funny that you also mention Penhaligon's. I have to say that I'm not a fan. But perhaps my enthusiasm was tinged by Luca Turin's dismissal of most of the range.
Fracas makes me happy and I've never understood the dislike of Angel. I'm reading Luca and Tania's book right now. I am very pleased that Angel gets 5 stars. Tania describes it as exciting and as a joke. Exciting yes. Joke not so much but ridiculously indulgent maybe.
I'm ticking my way through the 5-star list ;) Although I must say there are a few 5 sters that I don't get such as Tommy Girl and Aromatics Elixer, neither of those shall ever make their way into my collection.
Fracas is lovely, I endeavour to own a bottle one day.
Hi Princess Glee,
Ooh - glad to hear that you're reading the perfume guide. It's a fascinating read. I still dip into it every now and again, but I disagree with quite a few of their opinions.
Angel is an intriguing scent. As my guest blogger Janey Holliday said a while back - you either love it or you hate it.
Hi Stefanie, when I typed out the list yesterday I realised that there are still so many of the five star fragrances that I haven't tried.
I agree that Tommy Girl is a strange one - it's never particularly appealed to me, but I need to try it again. But Aromatics Elixir is a favourite of mine - so each to their own I guess.
I encountered Fracas at a critical time in my Tuberose Conversion; I officially hated tuberose, but I loved Tubereuse Couture, and then I loved Fracas, and all was confusion, and I demanded my brain back from the aliens. Now I'm fully converted and want a bottle.
I love The Guide. I very, very frequently disagree with it, but love it. Of the... lemme see .... 27 scents on that list that I have tried, I would agree with giving top ratings to Cristalle and _maybe_ Cuir de Russie and Patchouli 24.
I recently tried Tommy Girl and didn't get it - it's fine, but not five stars - and plan to try it again in hot, hot weather, to see if that's the secret. It smells like it might be a hot-and-humid-and-desperately-seeking-a-shade-tree scent. A shade tree and an Icee. And a creek nearby. And possibly a cotton candy seller.
Hi Chicken Freak! Glad you're fully converted - think I could go the same way but will be a long process.
The Guide is a fabulous read. It's interesting how we all disagree with the fragrances that are ranked as 5 star. But it's a good list to work from.
Tommy Girl is a funny one - you sort of want to like it - but it's an insipid fragrance, and definitely one of the biggest surprises on the five star list.
Thanks for visiting.
Oh, those five stars... whatever else I might say about them (and it would be *plenty*, lemme tell you), each one of them is at least worth smelling. They seem to serve as a sort of... hmm. A map of perfume-dom? You might not want to spend much time in The City, or the V&A Museum, if you are touring London, but you might want to know where those places are.
I think you're right in that a number of those 5-star scents don't, actually, Smell Good - but were innovative, influential, distinctive.
5 stars for Angel? Sec Mag (ugh)? Anything Estee Lauder, which has a common base that nauseates not only me but quite a number of perfume fans? 5 stars for, my God, GIORGIO?!?
Some of them I like a great deal but wouldn't call "best of the best" - Bvlgari Black springs to mind. I like Tommy Girl, too, but I much prefer PdR Rose d'Ete, which gets dismissed as "apple-rose Tommy Girl clone."
And some of the reviews are right on the money: No. 5, Apres l'Ondee, Le Temps d'une Fete... I think I forgive LT everything else for praising LTdF, which has never failed to make me happy.
I know that Chandler Burr is a big fan of "Fracas," but I'm with you, Jess, it smells old-fashioned to me.
I've never read Turin's book, but I am flabbergasted and stumped by his list-- what a strange lineup!! I think you must be right that this is a "Greatest Hits" list-- or maybe he really likes all of this stuff. I've smelled more than half that list and only can agree with him about five of his five-stars. Wow.
Hi Mals 86,
Agree with your 'map' theory. I haven't tried Le Temps d'une Fete. I love to hear about happy perfumes - must try it.
Hi LCN - As usual - you're way ahead of me on the learning curve! I've only smelt a small handful from this list. It is a bizarre cross section of a list - but for me that is partly what makes it interesting. If they were all purely and simply just lovely fragrances then there wouldn't be so much to argue about. It's great to have those oddballs in there!
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